-Alan-

Alan never liked going shopping, the crowds sometimes felt like they were pressing down on him and he had trouble breathing. He could do it, he just hated it. Which made him wonder how on earth Mary had dragged him along here. Mary had insisted on helping out where she could and decided to help his mother by going shopping for her today.

Which was all well and good, except that Alan had not realized that when Mary said she was going somewhere, she meant Alan and her were going somewhere!

It also meant Alan had to carry everything, which was probably her intention from the start.

“I have never understood how you can be so good in a small group but so terrible in dealing with a crowd.” Mary was saying as she pulled on Alan’s arm. He had trouble answering partially because of the pressure of the crowd and partially because she pressed against him whenever they had to slip through a small gap in that crowd!

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“Whenever I am dealing with a group I generally have what I need to say and know prepared,” Alex tried to take a few deep, calming breaths as they entered the grocery. “It is like a steam engine, everything is in place and can be understood and prepared for. There is nothing I can do about a crowd…”

“Well I will just keep forcing you along with me until you get used to it.” Mary said cheerily as she looked at the list Alan’s mother gave her. Alan was wondering if Mary just enjoyed tormenting him, and it must have shown on his face because Mary gave him a mock pout.

“You wouldn’t make your best friend deal with this all alone would you?”

Alan sighed and ignored the question, “those tomatoes are my mother’s favorite.” He pointed to the bin containing that particularly variety.

Throughout the day, Mary was quite friendly with all the various shopkeepers and stall owners. To Alan’s surprise, they even seemed to know her by name!

“Ah, yeah, I would help my mother shop a lot too.” Mary replied as she waved goodbye to the breadbaker. “Honestly, I am glad to have company, even if you are mostly quiet today.”

She poked Alan in the ribs and nearly dropped the packages he was carrying. Alan’s half hearted growl only caused her to laugh at him all the way home.